


Not On The Agenda

by angel_ponders



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Blow Jobs, Cecil is Inhuman, Dreams, Dreamsharing, Eldritch, Eldritch Abomination Cecil, Fluff, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnancy, Tentacles, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-28
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-24 21:50:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/945058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_ponders/pseuds/angel_ponders
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil is half human half eldritch.  While his human parts are all male, all eldritch are capable of conceiving.  Cecil finds himself pregnant and a very surprised Carlos does his best to be there for him in the only way he knows how.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first mpreg fic. This fandom also made me write my first tentacle fic. WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING TO ME

“Oh God, Cecil,” Carlos moaned as he slowly pushed into the man writhing below him. “Cecil you’re beautiful.”

 _”Carlos_ ,” he cried out, his tentacles slowly tightening around Carlos’s appendages, one slipping down his spine and teasing at his opening.

The tentacle hesitated for only a moment before pushing firmly inside, which caused Carlos to gasp and tense. Though the appendages were self lubricating, the girth was still jarring for Carlos. He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to the feeling of being so completely full so suddenly, but that just amplified his excitement. Sex with Cecil would _never_ be boring. They’d been together for three months, but each time they had sex felt just as exciting as their first time together. With Cecil’s tentacles involved there was so many new and unique experiences to explore that he felt like the possibilities were endless.

Carlos began to thrust, but when he pulled back the tentacle inside of him tapped against his prostate and he nearly came right then. He held back his orgasm, however, and managed to set a rhythm that had them both crying out into the quiet summer night. At one point in time Carlos might have been embarrassed at their volume level, but he’d spent the night at Cecil’s enough to know his neighbors had a bad habit of performing ritualistic chants in the middle of the night anyway, so he continued thrusting into him with abandon. He screamed. He moaned. He cried out Cecil’s name. He just let go and enjoyed himself.

When Cecil pushed the tentacle further inside, putting solid pressure against his prostate, Carlos lost it and came. The look of pure pleasure on Carlos’s face was enough to push Cecil over the edge as well and he came with Carlos’s name on his lips. He knew that putting the right amount of pressure against that sensitive spot would make Carlos come instantly. Even though Carlos was topping, it gave the ultimate control to Cecil. It was a balance of power that worked for them and produced spectacularly erotic results. It gave them a much needed balance in the bedroom.

They froze for a moment as the rush of endorphins momentarily flooded their systems and ever so slowly began to ebb. Carlos kissed Cecil sweetly on the tip of the nose before he pulled out. Then Cecil slipped his tentacle from Carlos’s body and uncoiled the others, letting them slowly morph back into the living tattoos that they existed as most of the time.

“Hmm,” Carlos said as he looked down at the mess between them.

“Hmm?” Cecil responded.

“The condom broke.”

“What?!” Cecil sat up and looked down as Carlos pulled the dripping rubber condom off his cock. Sure enough there was a hole near the tip. It wasn’t very big, but it was enough for Carlos’s cum to have leaked and formed an obvious spill on the outside of the rubber.

“It’s okay, Cecil. I mean, yeah, it’s good practice to use one, but I’m clean. No STDs or anything.” He tied it off, which was done mostly out of habit than usefulness since it had a hole in it, and tossed it into the nearby garbage bin. “Are you? Clean I mean?”

Cecil blinked all three eyes at him and tried to erase the panic stricken look from his face. “Yeah,” he said before he swallowed and forced himself to smile. “Yeah, of course. I’ve just never… you know.”

“Yeah,” Carlos said as he curled up next to Cecil and draped an arm across his midsection. “I’ve never been with someone long enough to not use a condom. But I mean we’ve been together for three months and we’re exclusive and we’re both clean, so this isn’t a major disaster. Could be worse, right? Could be an open relationship or we could not really know each other well or, hell, you could be a girl and we’d have the whole pregnancy thing to contend with.” 

Carlos ran his hands up Cecil’s sides, gently massaging the base of his tentacle tattoos in a way that made Cecil melt against him. They were truly beginning to know each others bodies inside and out. They knew exactly how to please each other and comfort each other with just the slightest of touches. Cecil sighed and nuzzled his nose into Carlos’s hair, inhaling the scent of Carlos’s shampoo and sweat. Cecil exhaled, more relaxed, but still somewhat tense.

“I didn’t mean to freak you out,” Carlos said as he buried his face in Cecil’s neck. “But really, nothing to worry about in this case. We’re fine Cecil.”

Cecil made a small noise of acknowledgement as Carlos began to drift off to sleep. Cecil, however, was awake for another hour staring at the ceiling. His knowledge of his own anatomy wasn’t what it should be. How big of a disaster this could be remained to be seen.

-

Three weeks later Cecil visited Carlos around lunchtime, bringing with him a thermos filled with Carlos’s favorite soup as some sort of peace offering. This conversation wasn’t going to be an easy one. He’d been rehearsing the conversation in his head, but he was more nervous than he’d ever been before. Speaking during tense situations was his job, but this was _Carlos_. This was their relationship. The only time he’d ever broken down on air and been unable to continue was when Carlos’s life was in danger. It was always the exception to everything. 

It took Carlos almost a full minute to notice Cecil standing in the doorway.

“Cecil, hey,” he said when he looked up from his microscope. “Sorry, didn’t mean to be working on a Saturday, but that tornado kicked up some interesting rock samples near the library and I just couldn’t resist. Have a seat,” he said as he gestured towards a stool on the opposite side of the work station. “What brings you by at this time of day?”

“Figured you’d have forgotten to eat. I knew you’d be preoccupied with what that tornado kicked up.” He set the thermos down next to the microscope and smiled at Carlos. “When science happens you forget to take care of yourself.”

Carlos unscrewed the cap and took a whiff of the contents.

“Cream of brocolli? My favorite!”

“I know,” Cecil said, grin growing even wider as he took a seat on in the bench on the opposite side of the work station. “Non-wheat cream, of course.”

“Of course.”

Carlos pushed the microscope away and poured some of the soup into the cup shaped lid of the thermos. He took a sip and smiled. Cecil smiled back, but after a moment he took a deep breath and pushed the conversation forward.

“Actually, something else did bring me by.”

“Oh?”

“Mmmhm.” 

Carlos took a sip of the soup and watched Cecil as he struggled with whatever it is he wanted to say. He was shifting uncomfortably on the stool and fidgeting with his hands. His mouth was still smiling, but his eyes were worried and distant as he stared down at the counter top. It wasn’t like Cecil to be so unsure of himself and Carlos was immediately concerned.

“Cecil?” Cecil’s eyes flickered to the surface of the work station. “Cecil, what’s wrong?”

“I... I might be pregnant.”

Cecil kept staring at the surface of the table for a moment, but eventually looked up to gauge Carlos’s reaction. Carlos just stared at him blankly, clearly unsure of how to respond. 

“How?” Carlos finally managed to blurt out. “You’re male. You have male genetalia.”

“Yes, I have _human_ male genitalia, but... I’m not entirely human. You know that.”

“Yes, but how... has any other human-eldritch hybrid ever given birth?”

Cecil was thrown by the question, but answered anyway. “Not that I know of. There’ve only been about a dozen of us who’ve survived to term.”

Carlos ran his hands through his hair and sighed.

“How many _didn’t_ survive to term?”

“I’m not sure. Dozens. Hundreds maybe. There isn’t exactly a book of records on this, Carlos”

“How do you know you might be pregnant? I mean with human woman there’s the whole, you know, missing menstrual cycle thing, morning sickness-”

“That,” Cecil interrupted. “Morning sickness. No periods though. As I said, the human parts of me are all male. This isn’t a human pregnancy, Carlos, but…” Cecil trailed off and looked away again.

“But what? What’s going on?”

“My body is changing. My tentacles… they don’t like to stay put in my skin very much anymore. I keep waking up with them all over the place. It’s not _normal_ for me.”

Carlos suddenly stood and started pacing around his tiny lab. “We need to get some more equipment for my lab, then. This isn’t going to be easy.”

“Carlos?” Cecil stood from his stool and rounded the workstation, but Carlos just maneuvered around him and kept pacing.

“We need an ultrasound machine at the _very_ least. I’m going to want to monitor you daily. I need to monitor you _immediately_. I have no idea what your inner organs look like. I have no idea where the baby even _is_ -”

“ _Carlos!_ ” 

“What?” Carlos spun around ending up face to face with a very confused looking radio host. Cecil reach out and took his hands in his own and brought them up to his chest. This brought Carlos’s attention back to him.

“You aren’t mad?”

“Mad? No. I’m _terrified_.” Carlos sighed again and tucked a wayward strand of blond hair behind Cecil’s ear. “I know nothing about eldritch biology. I don’t know what’s about to happen to you. I’m scared. Why would I be mad?”

“Because I didn’t tell you this was a possibility. Because you didn’t know I wasn’t... I mean, you were under the impression I was entirely male. I’m so _sorry_.” 

“Wait, Cecil, don’t.” Carlos took Cecil’s face in his hands and kissed him gently on the lips. “First of all, you are male. What’s in your pants doesn’t determine your gender.”

“Well, that’s sweet and very semantically sensitive, but you know what I meant by that. I’m not… you didn’t know this could happen. I basically lied.” Cecil began to break down and cry. Carlos wrapped his arms around him and pulled him to his chest.

“Don’t. Don’t do this. Yeah, I didn’t think this was a possibility. I’m gay. Mentally preparing myself for an unplanned pregnancy wasn’t exactly on the agenda. But it’s not like I never _wanted_ kids, Cecil.” Cecil looked up at him and his expression changed at that. He looked more hopeful, but his cheeks were still stained with tears and his eyes were bloodshot. “I just never expected them. Especially not like this. But if we’re going to _do_ this, I need to make some phone calls and get some equipment. This is a high risk pregnancy. It’s _inter species_. You of all people know how dangerous that is. I can’t.... I can’t let this hurt you Cecil.”

“Oh _Carlos_ ,” Cecil said as he rested his head against Carlos’s chest.

Carlos embraced him tightly as Cecil began to sob again. Carlos had immediately gone into scientist mode, almost forgetting the very real emotional component that was associated with such news. He had feelings on the matter as well, but his first priority was understanding what his boyfriend was about to go through on a physical level. It was just how he dealt with things he didn’t understand. Science first, emotions second. Once he mastered the science he felt he could be handle the emotional part. Cecil, however, wasn’t a scientist. He needed comfort and he needed it desperately.

“Cecil?” He pulled Cecil back just enough to tip his chin up and kiss him. It was a soft, but lingering kiss. “Cecil I love you but… I need to make some phone calls now.” Cecil nodded. His eyes were red with tears, but his expression was one of understanding. “I’ve made some friends at the hospital. I’m going to call in some favors and we’re going to figure this out together. But I need to work for a little while. You’re welcome to stay. In fact, I insist, but… I need to go make those calls alright?”

“Alright. I understand.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos take Cecil in for his first check up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really going to be pushing the whole eldritch/not human thing. Hope y'all are ok with very very NOT human Cecil? Like psychic and stuff? I come from Supernatural fandom so I'm used to writing psychic powers and stuff.

Carlos’s doctor friend at the hospital was also conveniently good friends with the only doctor in town who’d ever delivered an eldritch-human hybrid. She’d delivered Cecil, in fact. But before she leased any equipment to the couple she demanded that they come in for an in person examination. On the surface Carlos knew it was a good idea, but deep down he couldn’t help being over protective of Cecil now that he was in a more delicate state. He’d have to get over that, of course. Cecil had a career. He couldn’t just drop his entire life and camp out in Carlos’s apartment until the baby was born, but Carlos couldn’t help feeling like it was his job to protect him now. Even if that meant being _over_ protective. He was going to make sure this baby made it to term no matter what.

When Doctor Laura Saunders first walked into the room Carlos was taken back by her appearance. She didn’t look a day over 30 with short brown hair and a blue polka dot dress that fell just below the knee, but she’d delivered Cecil about 35 years prior so she had to have been much older. Then again, this was Night Vale. There was always a chance that she wasn’t human, herself, or that she’d been caught in some sort of time loop while Cecil was growing up or something. He didn’t know. But she immediately stuck out her hand and introduced herself and Carlos responded in kind.

“And you must be Carlos the scientist,” she said with a wink.

“Ah, you listen to his show,” Carlos said while blushing.

“Everybody does. I’m surprised I’m hearing about it before this got broadcasted all over town, honestly.”

All eyes turned to Cecil and that and he nervously shrugged.

“Well, I wanted to be sure. This isn’t something I’d want to be wrong about on air.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “I’m Doctor Laura Saunders, head of Neonatal Care and a Family Planning Specialists here at Night Vale General.”

“So you delivered Cecil, right?” Carlos asked.

“Indeed I did,” she said with a smile. “I’ve delivered over thirty non-human or human hybrid children during my time here. That’s why I wanted you to come in in person as soon as possible. The quicker we get a grasp on what’s going on here, the easier this will be for all of us.”

“Right,” Carlos said. “I’m not a medical doctor, but I want to take care of him at home as much as possible. I just want to be close to this, you know? I want to have a hand in bringing this kid to term.”

“Understandable. You aren’t an expert, though, so I’m going to be assigning nurses to come by for home visits. I hope that’s alright.”

“Of course,” Carlos said with a nod. “Any help we can get we’ll be grateful for.”

“Anything for Night Vale’s most famous couple,” she said with another wink. Carlos rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, thrown by her naturally flirtatious persona, while Cecil just smiled appreciatively. Dr. Saunders ignored Carlos’s discomfort and turned to Cecil. “Well let’s get your shirt open and take a sonogram, shall we?”

-

Carlos understood the gist of what a sonogram entailed. The black and white images were created using an ultrasound, which essentially gave them a peek at Cecil’s insides. The images on the screen were confusing, though. Nothing was quite where it was supposed to be and there were a lot of extra parts thrown in so Carlos patiently waited for the doctor to explain exactly what they were seeing.

“Hm,” she said as she moved the transducer along Cecil’s lower abdomen. “Interesting. There are definitely changes from the last time you came in for an exam, Cecil, which by the way was far too many years ago for my liking. 

“As you can see, all of your human male parts are intact.” She began pointing at certain lines on the screen. “You’ve got your vas deferens and your cowper glands and all that good stuff. Just above the seminal vesicles, however, you also have the typical eldritch sex organ. It’s moved your bladder forward and down slightly. The last time I took note of them it was about a third this size. Have you been urinating more lately?”

“Um, yeah,” Cecil said awkwardly. “A little.” 

“That’s going to get worse. There’s not much space to begin with so it’s going to start shifting things around. Also the last time you were here the birthing sac was empty.” She pointed to a dark spot that had a small light cluster in the middle. “Now. however, it looks like there’s a new cluster of cells tucked inside of it.”

“Is that-” Carlos began, but he was so uncertain of everything he let the sentence die on his lips. Cecil finished the thought for him.

“Is that our baby?”

“Yep! That’s our little eldritch human hybrid in the flesh. Well, in the cells, at least.”

Carlos approached the screen for a better look and Cecil reached out to take him by the arm to keep him within reach. They were both momentarily stunned into silence. It was the first time the reality of the situation beyond the physical risks had really hit them. After staring blankly at the screen for several long moments, Carlos turned to Cecil, who broke out into a grin as soon as they made eye contact. Carlos couldn’t help but giggle in response.

“That’s our baby, Cecil.”

“I _know_ ,” he said pulling Carlos back from the screen so that he was standing beside him again.

“ _Our baby_ ,” Carlos whispered.

Cecil pulled him down and pressed a small kiss on his lips. Their fingers laced together and they locked eyes. They were going to be _parents_. That little clump of cells was going to grow and become a living being and they’d get to name it and raise it and do all of those things that neither of them had really pictured for themselves. Carlos leaned in and kissed him again, deeper than before.

“Now the interesting thing is,” she continued, bringing their attention back to the screen. She pointed towards a small tube that led from the sac and followed it to the edge of the screen. “It appears that this tube is how the sperm connected with the egg in the first place. Anal sex, right?”

They both turned red, but nodded a confirmation to her assumption.

“It connects to the colon, but that’s not the only tube present. There are several other places growing and reaching out and I don’t know where they’ll connect. Or how they’ll connect. Or even if they’ll connect. We’ll need to monitor those. Either way I think the best method of delivery is going to be a c-section. Even if you develop a fully functioning eldritch uterus in the next few months I don’t think it’s safe to try to use it to deliver a child. We’ll monitor you closely and when it seems time to deliver we’ll extract the child through c-section.”

“Speaking of which,” Carlos said, slipping back into what Cecil had dubbed ‘scientist mode.’ “What is his gestation period going to be?”

“Hard to say. Human females gestate for just about nine months. Eldritch gestate for about six. Cecil is neither, though. We’ll have to monitor him very closely on that front as well. Carlos, I’m going to teach you everything you need to monitor him daily, but I also want to see him personally once a week. I will also be sending nurses in every couple of days to report back. They’ll take the information that you’ve gathered and perform some tests that you simply can’t do without a medical degree. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. More than fine, actually.”

“Alright, now Cecil.” She took a cup off the tray next to the machine and handed it to him. “I want you to go into the bathroom down the hall and pee in this cup. We need to start monitoring your hormone levels. Chances are that you’ll have some eldritch hormones as well. We’ve gotta keep an eye on those.”

“Sure.” Cecil stood and buttoned up his shirt. He took the cup from her with an awkward smile and exited the room. 

The moment the door shut Dr Saunders turned on her heels and looked and Carlos. He raised his eyebrows in response. They just looked at each other for a moment in silence before Dr Saunders broke the ice.

“You aren’t from here.”

“Uh, no,” Carlos said. “But you listen to Cecil’s show so you already know that, right?”

“Obviously. I’m not from here either. Cecil’s special here. Sometimes even he doesn’t realize how special. Now I’m sure the Secret Police already know about all this pregnancy stuff. They probably knew before he did. But when the rest of the town gets wind of this your life is going to change.”

“More than it has already?”

“Oh yeah.” She grinned. “Much more. He’s not just a celebrity, he’s… well, do you even know what eldritch are?”

“Uh, no, not really. They have tentacles, I assume. Multiple eyes.”

“They’re essentially Gods, Carlos. Cecil is basically half God. And this is all normal to him. He was raised here. I wasn’t. You weren’t. We can see the oddities for what they are. To him all of the stuff we find strange is just a normal facet of his life. It’s a normal facet of everyone’s life here. A half God like being delivering their news on a nightly basis is par for the course. Have you ever wondered how he seems to know what’s happening in town while it’s happening?” 

“Interns, I assumed.”

“No. Not quite.” She leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. “He’s basically what holds this town together. A deity, essentially, but don’t go telling the Glow Cloud that its got competition,” she said with a laugh. “He is Night Vale and you went and got him pregnant. This kid is basically going to be Night Vale’s kid.”

For a moment Carlos wasn’t sure what to make of this information. He knew Cecil wasn’t human, but what that other half entailed was pretty much a mystery. He wanted to ask so many questions about Cecil’s biology. What else can he do? What do full blood eldritch look like? Where are they from? Instead he went a completely different route surprising them both.

“If you aren’t from here, but you look younger than Cecil and you helped _birth_ Cecil, what does that make you exactly?”

She blinked, completely thrown by the abrupt change in conversation. Before she could formulate a response Cecil slowly opened the door and entered the room holding a cup of his own urine.

“Ah, perfect,” she said as she pushed herself off the counter. “Now Carlos, I’m about to teach you how to monitor Cecil’s hormones. Hope you aren’t squeamish about pee because you’re going to be getting up close and personal with it in the next few months. Like, daily.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos prepares his lab for Cecil's increased presence. The two share a powerful encounter in Cecil's dreams, which brings them closer together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this is heavily influenced by my Destiel writing. Eh? *shrugs*

Cecil had gone to work immediately after the exam and Carlos went home to clear some space in the lab for the medical equipment. The van carrying the supplies arrived about an hour later and the men from the hospital got to work setting it up right away. Carlos attempted to help with the equipment, but he quickly realized he was just getting in the way of the professionals that actually knew what they were doing and moved on to make himself useful elsewhere in the lab. 

Cecil still had his own apartment, but if he was going to be over more often Carlos wanted to make it more comfortable. It was a complete mess, caught somewhere between dangerously messy science lab and bachelor pad. He began clearing magazines and papers off the unused couch in the corner of the room just as Cecil’s soothing voice began to drift over the airwaves.

“Stars. Burning balls of gas. Or at least that’s what _they_ want you to think. Welcome to Night Vale.” 

When the familiar music began to play Carlos smiled. He tried never to miss a show, but sometimes work would pull him away from the broadcast. Since their relationship became more intimate, however, he made it a point to make work fit around his broadcast or at least tune in on a portable radio if he had to be out in the field. He loved the sound of Cecil’s voice.

Carlos reached over and turned the volume up.

“Before we get into todays news, dear listeners, I have an announcement of a _personal_ nature.” 

He knew Cecil would announce it soon, but he hadn’t quite expected it to be the opening story of the show. Then again, this _was_ Cecil. Part of him was excited to have the town know, but part of him was worried about the reaction. If he was as big of a deal as Dr Saunders implied, it could go badly. They could be protective of him and angry at Carlos and, oh, the possibilities for negative reactions were endless.

“Carlos and I are expecting. Expecting what? We don’t know yet. A baby, most likely. Most people give birth to babies, so if you’re placing bets, that’s a decently safe one. Will it have my eyes? Carlos’s perfect hair? My mother tentacles? Who knows. We will soon find out. 

“But enough about me. Has anyone else noticed that giant swamp that’s formed in the Applebee’s parking lot? What’s going on _there?_ ”

As Cecil continued to talk about the news of the day, Carlos turned to look at the two men who were hooking up the sonogram machine. They were the first Night Vale residents that Carlos would have contact with after the news was announced. Their reaction would act as a gauge to him. One of the men nodded, winked, and gave him a thumbs up while the other simply smiled at him. Carlos awkwardly returned the thumbs up and went back to cleaning off the sofa.

Good. Things might be okay. He only hoped the rest of the town would be as accepting of the news.

-

That night they lay tangled in a mess of limbs on Carlos’s bed. It took too much concentration for Cecil to keep his tentacles concealed, so they agreed to let them loose whenever it was convenient. At this very moment one of them was petting Carlos’s hair while Carlos rested his head again Cecil’s chest. Carlos had pulled Cecil’s shirt up enough to splay his hand across Cecil’s lower abdomen roughly where the birthing sac he’d seen on the monitor had been located. He couldn’t really feel any movement yet, but the knowledge that it was there was enough.

“So I’ve been thinking,” Carlos began.

“Oh?”

“Is it going to call you mom or dad? I mean, you’re giving birth to it, so you’re it’s mom, but you identify as male so…”

“I… hadn’t really considered that actually.”

“Hm, well, you’ve got time I suppose.” He traced his finger along the hair below Cecil’s belly button, causing Cecil to shiver.

“What do you want it to call you?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” Carlos responded, laying his hand flat against his abdomen again. “Dad? Daddy? Father sounds so formal.”

“So if _you_ go with dad _I_ can’t go with dad.”

“Huh. Good point. What about dad and daddy?”

“Well that’ll just get confusing.” They both laughed. Carlos traced his finger across Cecil’s skin again, causing him to release a relaxed sigh and shudder.

“What about… Cecil and Carlos?”

“I’m not sure the City Council will approve that.”

“They have to approve the names a kid calls their parents.” Carlos raised his head and looked Cecil in the eyes.

“Of course!”

The look on his face told Carlos that he was absolutely serious. Obviously. How could Carlos have thought differently?

“Of course,” Carlos repeated. “More paperwork.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve already picked it up from City Hall. I can fill it out too, if you’d like. I mean we are supposed to fill it out together, but nobody would know.”

“Nah,” Carlos said as he curled around Cecil’s side. “We can fill it out together. But not tonight, alright?”

“Obviously. We can’t fill it out until we know the gender and name anyway.”

“Obviously,” Carlos responded with a smile.

Eventually sleep overtook them both and they passed out wrapped in each others arms, legs, and Cecil’s tentacles.

-

Everything was red.

Bright red.

 _Danger_ red.

But the more Carlos concentrated the more he could make out shapes around him. It was like a red mist but as he moved through it he could see that he was in Cecil’s recording booth, only it was much much larger. The desk appeared so long was practically endless. The red mist made it impossible to see from one end to the other so he did the only logical thing he could think of and follow the edge of the booth until he could find some sort of door to the outside world. He kept his hand on the surface of the booth so that he didn’t lose track of it. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but the surface of the desk would act as his anchor.

It felt like he was tracking the edge of the room forever, but eventually a different shape began to emerge in the distance. It wasn’t tall nor short, fat nor thin, but it had four large tentacles sprouting from its lower back and he recognized it instantly. _Cecil_.

He approached Cecil slowly, afraid of disturbing him or distracting him from whatever it was in front of him that had him so occupied. When he was within touching distance he stopped and peered around him to see what it was that had his attention. There was a small white glowing orb suspended in mid air above the surface of the desk. It was emitting a white glow in contrast to the overwhelming redness all around them.

“What are _you_ doing here?” Cecil said as he turned and looked at Carlos.

“Uh, not sure. Where am I exactly?”

“In my dream. Isn’t it obvious?”

“Uh, no. Not exactly.” Carlos looked around at the foggy red recording booth again. Cecil’s head was a strange place. “Why are we in _your_ dream? Why am I not in my own dream?”

“Must be because of her,” he said as he gestured towards the glowing orb.

“Her?” Carlos repeated. “Is that…? It’s a girl? We’re having a daughter? Cecil, is that our baby?”

“Yes. That’s what it feels like. It’s very feminine.” Cecil reached his hand out and hovered inches from the orb. “She hasn’t begun to actually develop much yet, but it feels like a ‘she.’ Here give me your hand. Feel for yourself.”

One of his tentacles took Carlos by the wrist and led him towards the orb. Carlos was grateful for the contact. He’d never been inside someone else’s head before and it was all very disorienting. He didn’t even know it was possible. But then again, this was Night Vale and Cecil was supposedly part God anyway-

“Who told you that?”

“What?” Carlos was inches away from the tiny orb of light, but all of his attention was suddenly on Cecil. “Who told me what?”

“Who told you I’m part ‘God?’”

“Shit, how can you hear my thoughts?”

“You’re in my head, Carlos. Your thoughts are basically my thoughts. Can’t really be avoided” He shrugged apologetically. “I’m sorry.”

“Uh, Doctor Saunders did.” He saw little need to try to hide it. Cecil could probably just lift the answer from his brain at this point anyway. “You know, there’s very little about you that worries me, but reading my thoughts? Sucking me into your head like this? I’m getting a little worried, Cecil. There’s this whole privacy thing...”

“It’s not _me_ doing it. It’s _her_.”

Cecil gestured back towards the orb of light that had momentarily been forgotted. Carlos turned his attention back to the orb that was supposedly his daughter. His fingers were mere inches away from her and though he couldn’t feel her gender like Cecil could, he could still feel an enormous amount of emotion emanating from her. Love. Acceptance. Belonging.

“Can I… can I touch her?”

“Uh, I’m not sure. This is all new to me too. I don’t know the rules here.”

Carlos reached out and laced their fingers together. If they were going to do it, they were going to do it together. He smiled and moved their fingers towards the orb so that they’d make contact at the same time, hoping that whatever boundary they were about to cross would end with generally positive results. When they did make contact they both gasped, immediately overwhelmed by a sense of love flowing through them. It was startling and so incredibly powerful...

-

Carlos woke up, jolted awake by the intensity of the feelings coursing through him. He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed was that their fingers were still laced together as they had been in the dream and they were resting gently on Cecil’s abdomen. His eyes flickered up to meet Cecil’s, who was looking at him with all the fondness he’d come to expect from him. He had no idea what he’d done to earn such pure adoration from the man, but he felt damn lucky.

“Was that…” Carlos began.

“Real? Yeah. Very.”

“And you’ve never done that before?”

“No, never.”

“Interesting.”

“Mmhmm.” 

The overwhelming sense of love was still flowing through him and he felt like it was going to consume him. He rubbed his thumb over Cecil’s fingers and squeezed gently. Cecil was _his_. And he was carrying _their child_. He didn’t feel worthy of such a gift. Cecil was everything to him. He was kind and loving and patient and _perfect_.

“I love you, you know,” Carlos said.

“I know.”

Carlos let go of Cecil’s hand and slipped it under Cecil’s boxers. When he took his already hardening cock into his hand Cecil gasped. Carlos kissed him deeply on the lips and began to stroke him. Cecil whined into his mouth, one of his tentacles wrapping around Carlos’s forearm encouragingly. The other tentacles wrapped around whatever appendage they could reach and gripped him firmly. Cecil’s hands were in Carlos’s hair, tangled in those perfectly gorgeous locks.

They laid like that, Carlos gently stroking him while lazily kissing him for several long minutes. When Cecil began making desperate little noises into his mouth he knew his partner was close. He’d come to recognize exactly what Cecil was feeling just by the sounds he made and these sounds indicated that an orgasm was right around the corner. 

He let go of Cecil, eliciting a small disappointed noise from him, but he quickly pushed Cecil’s boxers down his thighs and took his cock into his mouth.

 _”Carlos_ ,” Cecil cried out. 

His tentacles began to tighten around Carlos, holding him in place as he gently bucked up into his mouth. His fingers were still in Carlos’s hair and he gripped those locks in his fingers, hoping that Carlos got the hint to stay still. He did, and Cecil bucked up again until his cock touched the back of Carlos’s throat.

“Carlos. Perfect _beautiful_ Carlos. _My_ Carlos.” 

He sucked and licked and sucked some more until Cecil came down his throat with a shout. Carlos swallowed it all, licking every last drop from the slit and sucking him through the last few squirts of cum. When Cecil was spent, Carlos let him go with a loud pop. 

The tentacles were still wrapped around him, but they’d loosened enough for him to move. He climbed up Cecil’s body and kissed him deeply again, letting him taste himself on his own tongue. Cecil moaned and the tentacles tightened again.

“My Cecil,” he said as he ran his fingers through his partner’s hair. “My beautiful Cecil.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil gets a new nurse. Carlos and Cecil begin to think about baby names.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Bob the eldritch monster. Yep. I've been rambling about him on Tumblr for like a week. I don't know why, but I think he's my favorite OC I've ever created.

Carlos was sipping his coffee at his workstation and reading the morning paper while Cecil cooked them eggs and bacon when he heard someone knocking loudly at the door. They looked at each other for a moment, but it was clear that Cecil couldn’t leave the stove top and it was Carlos’s home anyway, so the decision was an easy one. Carlos set the paper down on the counter and went to the door to greet whoever their enthusiastic visitor was. When he opened it and saw what was waiting for him on the other side he immediately slammed it shut and shouted.

“Shit!”

“Carlos?” Cecil asked, turning his attention away from the skillet in front of him.

It took several seconds for Carlos’s brain to catch up with him. What was on the other side of the door was nothing but a writhing mass of tentacles and blackness and horror and putting a door between him and that _thing_ seemed logical... But then again, _Cecil_ had tentacles much like the creature and a vicious monster wouldn’t exactly _knock_ on the door. It’d probably just rip it off the hinges and barrel on through. 

Carlos suddenly felt very stupid. 

“I think I just acted very rudely to one of your relatives.”

“What?” 

Cecil removed the skillet from the stove top and set it aside. Carlos was still too unsure of himself to open the door on his own, but thankfully Cecil joined him and did the honors.

“Oh _goodness_. Carlos, this is my uncle.” Cecil then made an inhuman noise that Carlos had absolutely no hope of pronouncing.

“I have no idea what you just said.”

“Er, uh, Bob,” Cecil said. “You can just call him Bob.”

Carlos turned to look at the creature. Upon closer examination he could see that it was covered in eyes that very much resembled cecil’s third eye. They were purple, but unlike Cecil’s they were all blinking out of sync with one another. The tentacles were very much like Cecil’s, black and smooth and so so _long_ , but he couldn’t even begin to count them. There were dozens.

“Right, Bob, I’m sorry about the door slamming, I just-” The creature cut him off with a horrifyingly high pitched noise that made Carlos immediately cover his ears. “ _Oh god_!”

“Oh dear, Bob, it’s been quite a few years since you’ve been around humans hasn’t it.”

The creature made the horrific noises again and Carlos recoiled back from the door.

“Carlos, he’s apologizing and saying he understands why you slammed the door. Eldritch can be quite, uh, startling at first. He’s not upset, but, well,” Cecil turned back to Bob. “Maybe you shouldn’t try vocalizing anymore. Come inside. We’ll figure something out.”

Carlos stepped back at the creature sort of drifted inside his apartment. It was massive, at least three times the size of a human in mass with all of its writhing tentacles stretching out in all directions. It didn’t even seem to be touching the ground, but rather hovering just above it and floating as it moved through the apartment.

“Here, try this,” Cecil said as he handed a computer tablet to Bob.

The creature immediately began typing with about a dozen of it’s tentacles and when it hit enter the application spoke in a computerized voice.

“Greetings Carlos. I am unable to type my real name using this alphabet, but Bob will suffice. Doctor Saunders has sent me as Cecil’s nurse. I have delivered over three hundred eldritch children and was present for Cecil’s birth. I am also a certified nurse in both planes of existence and am a master at Tai Chi. I apologize for frightening you.”

“Well, I’m sorry for slamming the door in your face,” Carlos said as he took his hands off his ears. “That was rude. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It is understandable. As is traditional human custom, I offer you my appendage for shaking upon introduction.” 

The creature offered a tentacle, which Carlos accepted. As soon as the shake was completed to Bob’s satisfaction he began typing furiously on the tablet again.

“Cecil, we should begin the examination immediately. I will need your charts indicating your hormone levels and I will need to begin with the ultrasounds and ritual chanting to the Elder Gods as soon as possible. I would like for you to begin morning prayers and a vitamin regimen on the morrow. Please also avoid eating fish, undercooked meats, and the blood of your enemies. Sit in the examination chair so we can begin.”

Once again it took a few moments for Carlos’s brain to catch up with everything, but once it had he felt somewhat useless and completely out of his element. Carlos was reminded that he wasn’t a medical doctor and anything he’d learned would still be the work of an uncertified hobbyist. He was a field scientist that dabbled in other areas outside of his specialty, but he wasn’t qualified to care for Cecil like Bob could. To top it all off, Bob’s words were a brutal reminder that this wasn’t even remotely a normal pregnancy. Bob was an expert in both of these things, to be sure, and all Carlos could do was observe and try his best to take notes. 

He took a seat on a stool by the window and began typing on his laptop so that he could better understand Cecil’s needs. He wrote copious notes about everything Bob did, from simple tests to unconventional advice. It was going to be a steep learning curve, but Carlos was determined.

About 20 minutes into the examination a loud boom outside caused Carlos’s attention to focus out the window. Where once a run down single unit dwelling had once stood was now a giant hole in the ground. Carlos had seen stranger things happen, but it was still concerning enough to have him leaping from his stool and running to the door.

“Carlos?” Cecil said from the examination chair.

“Uh, the building across the street is gone,” he said as he made his way across the room. “Should… should I be concerned?”

“Is it just the one building?”

Carlos opened the door and looked out. A few citizens in orange vests had appeared at the edge of the hole looking very unperturbed by the whole ordeal.

“Uh, so far. There are guys in orange vests standing around it.”

“Oh, don’t worry then. That was a planned sinkhole. It’ll probably be filled in soon.”

“Planned sinkhole…. right.” Carlos looked back at Cecil and Bob, then looked out at the events unfolding across the street. Geology and seismology was his career. It was what he got his grants on. It was how he paid for the lab they were sitting in the food in his fridge. A few days ago he’d have been out the door instantly to investigate and collect samples, but now? Now his priorities were very different. “Right,” he said as he shut the door. He took his place back on the stool and reopened his laptop. “Carry on. I think we were just about to go over the, uh, chants to the Elder Gods?”

“Correct,” Bob’s tablet application said. “I will need to show you where to place the rune stones and how to paint the symbols upon his abdomen. If done incorrectly, you will bring the wrath of Xinlurgash down upon you.”

“Right. Xinlurgash,” Carlos said as he looked back over his notes. “The Ever-Consuming. Best the be avoided.”

“Correct. Moving on.”

-

They laid curled up together again that night, Carlos curled up behind Cecil with Cecil’s tentacles wrapped all around him holding him close to his back. Carlos’s hand was resting gently under Cecil’s shirt, fingers splayed out across his abdomen gently. Touching Cecil’s stomach was quickly becoming one of his favorite things to do. Somewhere under his fingertips was his daughter. Truth be told, he was damn excited to become a parent. It wasn’t something he’d planned for or expected to ever happen, but now that it was a reality he realized just how much he actually wanted it.

“What about a name?” Cecil said as he laced his fingers together with Carlos’s. “We know her sex now. We should think about names.”

Though Carlos hadn’t been able to feel her sex in the dream, he trusted Cecil’s instincts. They were going to have a _daughter_. Or at least the human part was going to be female. If she had eldritch traits she, like Cecil, could technically carry the eldritch intersex traits as well.

“Can it be a human name?”

“Of course,” Cecil said, and Carlos could practically hear the smile in his voice. “She’s mostly human, anyway. And besides, I’m pretty much split down the middle genetically and _I_ have a human name.”

“That’s true,” Carlos said. “Hmm.”

“Hmm?”

“If you’re split down the middle, that must mean that human traits are dominant. Besides your third eye and tentacles, you look mostly human. Well, that and the whole psychic thing.”

“I’m not _psychic_ ,” Cecil corrected. “That dream thing is all her. I’ve never done that on my own.”

“It’s not just that, but… well… nevermind, I’m getting all sciency again.”

“It’s okay. I like it when you get sciency.” Cecil brought their laced hands up to his lips and kissed one of Carlos’s knuckles before returning their interlocked fingers to his abdomen.

“So a name…” Carlos said, hoping he’d successfully veered the conversation back to where it started.

“How about something that starts with ‘C?’ You know, like Cecil and Carlos.”

“Hm, I like that. We both have l’s in our name too.”

“Well let’s not get _too_ matchy matchy.”

Carlos laughed and kissed the back of Cecil’s neck. Cecil made a small pleased hum at that and his tentacles tightened around his body ever so slightly.

“You’re perfect, you know that?” Carlos said.

“Hey, that’s _my_ line.”

“Not my fault it applies to you, too, though.”

“Oh? ‘Too?’ So you’re calling yourself perfect? That’s a little boastful of you, my dear. Maybe you aren’t so perfect after all.”

“Oh, shut up Cecil,” he said with a laugh.

Cecil rolled over onto his back and looked at Carlos. Their laughter died off as they made eye contact with one anothers, but their smiles remained. For a moment they just looked at each other, both so taken by the other that they couldn’t form their feelings into words. Carlos broke their staring contest by leaning in and kissing Cecil sweetly on the lips.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos needs to work on his grant proposals so Cecil returns to his own apartment for a short period of time. Things do not go smoothly, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you're not getting bored. I've got IDEAS and I'm just trying to weave them in and out of the fluff.

Cecil was about eight weeks along and he’d spent almost every night since they found out at Carlos’s apartment. Unfortunately Carlos’s grant proposals were do and, despite the scientist’s initial resistance to the idea, they agreed to spend some time apart so that Carlos could catch up on work. Carlos insisted he could do everything he needed in a twenty four hour period, but Cecil insisted forty eight. They argued back and forth for a solid twenty minutes before they came to a compromise. Cecil would visit the hospital each day during their forty eight hour hiatus and promised to call Carlos if the _slightest_ thing went wrong. Likewise, if Carlos called Cecil had to pick up the phone unless it was during his show. 

Cecil’s body had been changing gradually over the course of those eight weeks. His skin had taken on a light purple hue, his tentacles had grown several inches, and his belly seemed to protrude ever so slightly. The baby bump might not be noticeable to the average person, but Carlos could tell that the bottom button of his shirt seemed to be straining against the fabric. Of course, the tentacles _could_ have something to do with his misfit clothes, but they’d cut holes in the back of his shirts to accommodate them so they simply couldn’t be to blame. When Carlos lifted the shirt he could tell there was a slight rise to his lower abdomen and he enjoyed running his fingers along it knowing that their baby was resting peacefully inside..

And the dreams were different. Oh God, _the dreams_. Whatever psychic mojo that baby was stirring up was going full blast in Cecil’s mind. It seemed like every other night Carlos would find himself in Cecil’s mind. More often than not they’d eventually find that ball of energy that they recognized as their daughter, but sometimes they’d just enjoy each others company in the strangeness that was Cecil’s psyche. Sometimes Carlos couldn’t tell if what they were experiencing was a realistic depiction of something in Night Vale or something crafted by Cecil’s strange and unusual mind. Either way, he’d grown to appreciate the ever changing landscape and would sometimes awake disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to explore it on a particular night.

But there would be at least two night’s without it, now. He wouldn’t even be tangled up in Cecil’s arms and tentacles upon waking. Hell, he might not even _sleep_ for two days. Grant proposals were due soon and he was two months behind on research and he had to make up for lost time. He’d abandoned his last project when he learned that Cecil was pregnant and he was scrambling to put something together that would justify his continued presence in Night Vale. If he didn’t get his grant money he wasn’t sure what he’d do. He couldn’t just _leave_. This was Cecil’s home and they were about to start a family. But without grant money… how could he provide for them?

The first order of business was investigating the vacant lot across the street. Cecil had assured him that it was a controlled sinkhole, but he’d never seen something man made like that before and it would surely make for an interesting proposal to those in charge of the grant money. The hole was at least fifty feet in circumference and unimaginably deep. However, before he managed to take any measurements of the hole it was mysteriously filled in without the aid of heavy duty equipment. He lived right across the street and would have surely heard the trucks, but one night it was empty and then the next morning… filled. 

As soon as Cecil left his home that morning he trekked out to the hole to get whatever samples and measurements he could scrounge together so long after the fact. When he approached the hole the one lone man in an orange vest stood up from his stool and nodded in Carlos’s direction. He didn’t seem to be a very foreboding figure. He wasn’t stopping him or yelling at him. He looked quite pleased to see him, actually, which was yet another oddity that Carlos just didn’t quite understand.

“Uh, mind if I take some soil samples?” Carlos asked.

“Sure,” the man said. “Congratulations, by the way.”

“What? Oh, you mean the baby?” The man smiled at him and Carlos nervously rubbed the back of his neck. _Of course_ the baby. “Thanks. It’s a girl!”

“I know. Cecil says so just about everyday.”

“Ah, yeah, I suppose he does.”

“I don’t suppose you have a name yet. Cecil would have mentioned that on his show.”

“Nope, not yet. We have a few ideas, but nothing yet.”

“We’re all excited to know! Anyway, be quick about your samples. You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Of course,” he said as he got to work.

When he got back to his lab he found it easy to slip back into his old research habits. He tuned the rest of the world out, save for the half an hour per night he divided his attention between his work and Cecil’s broadcast. He tested the samples for their composition, analyzing several dozen different pieces of rock and dirt taken from all across the area. If he could figure out where the dirt came from, maybe even how old it was, he’d have a launching point for a grant proposal. If he could prove there was a mystery here to be solved he might get to stay and investigate it. It was a last ditch effort, but it was all he had really.

During the weather segment he called Cecil to check in on his condition.

“I’m perfectly fine, Carlos. I’m a big boy. I can go a day without you hovering over me.”

“I know, I know. But I just want to be sure. Your morning sickness hasn’t come back has it?”

“No, and even if it had, that’d be normal for this time.”

“Cecil, nothing about this is _normal_.”

“Well, it’d be normal for a human female.”

“Which you aren’t.” Cecil sighed on the other end of the line. “Look, I’m sorry I’m so… you know… overbearing, but-”

“I’m not going to break, Carlos. And I went into the hospital before work anyway. Doctor Saunders says everything is fine. She thinks she might even see the start of some tentacles on the ultrasound. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Amazing,” Carlos said with a smile. “I want to see that the next time you’re here.”

“Two days, Carlos. You have have work to do. The weather is almost over. I have to go. I love you.”

“Love you too, Cecil.”

When Cecil’s show was over Carlos was absorbed back into his experiments and didn’t emerge until the next morning. All he’d learned was that the soil in the center of the sinkhole was the exact same material as what was in the surrounding desert, which… wasn’t all that interesting. It didn’t tell him how it got there, how the sinkhole could possibly occur and then right itself in just a few days, or even why it happened in the first place. The few measurements he’d taken hadn’t helped much either. 

Cecil had said it was planned, but nobody seemed to really want to expand on that. It wasn’t really enough to create a grant proposal. If anything he’d have better luck turning his attention back to the strange samples that had been kicked up by the tornado oh so many weeks ago, but when he blinked blearily at the clock on his phone (the only one that ever seemed to work correctly) his priorities shifted. 

He'd worked straight through the night. It’d been twenty eight hours since he and Cecil had parted and over twelve since they’d last spoken. Cecil was usually a late riser, but it was almost 10 in the morning so Carlos didn’t feel _too_ bad for waking him up. He pressed Cecil’s name on his phone and put it on speaker while he cleaned up his previous series of experiments. It took three rings for him to answer.

“Carlos, dear, are you done with your experiments already?”

“Not quite. Moving on to something else at the moment. How are you? Did I wake you?”

“Er, no, I was… awake already.”

“Awake before noon without me disturbing you? You sure you’re feeling okay?”

“I’m fine, Carlos, I…” There was a pause on the other end of the line.

“Cecil?” There was the sound of vomiting on the other end of the line and Carlos set down his tray of samples. “Cecil, I’m coming over.”

“No, wait…. Carlos…” There was more vomiting as Carlos grabbed his keys, took the phone off speaker and headed towards the door. “Carlos, it’s just morning sickness. It’s nothing to be worried about. It’s normal. I’m fine.”

“No, Cecil, I’m coming over. I told you to call me if anything happened and you didn’t.”

“Because this isn’t _anything_. I’m _fine_.”

“I’m already on my way, Cecil, now shush.”

“Oh Carlos…”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

-

On the drive over Carlos wondered if he was using morning sickness as an excuse to see Cecil. All in all, throwing up was just a part of pregnancy. Cecil was right. Even Doctor Saunders agreed and she knew what she was doing. It wasn’t _really_ a big deal, but Carlos wanted to protect him from everything, even the slightest discomfort. Maybe he _was_ being overprotective. On the _other_ hand, this wasn’t a normal pregnancy at all. Paranoia was justified... right?

Carlos had a key to Cecil’s place, but the front door was left unlocked. Cecil’s apartment was slightly bigger than Carlos’s. It had a living room and a separate bedroom, as opposed to a loft with a mattress on it, and without all the lab equipment it was much roomier. Sometimes he thought that logically his place should be where they spent most of their time, but it was Carlos’s apartment that had all the equipment. 

Cecil, however, wasn’t in the living room like he usually was. The whole place was eerily quiet.

“Cecil?”

“In here.”

Carlos followed the voice into the bathroom and found Cecil curled up next to the toilet, his tentacles laying limply across the floor. Carlos immediately crouched down next to him and put a hand to his head just next to his third eye. He was clammy and cool.

“Cecil, this looks like more than just morning sickness.”

“It isn’t more, Carlos, I promise,” he said and that’s when something caught Carlos’s eye.

“Cecil, let me see your teeth.”

“Carlos,” Cecil sighed. He blinked at him and Carlos noticed that his two normal eyes were more purple now than they were their normal blue. More bodily changed. Things were escalating. 

“Cecil, please.”

Cecil sighed again, but eventually relented. He smiled weakly and Carlos lifted up a lip for closer examination. He could tell that his teeth were sharper and slightly longer than before, which was certainly something he hadn’t seen just a little over a day ago. Carlos hadn’t seen Bob’s teeth at all. He wasn’t even quite sure where an eldritch’s mouth was located. The whole species was incredibly secretive and prefered to teach in person rather than writing it all down in a book for others to study. And Bob seemed to only want to teach what was needed to bring their child to term.

“Is that an eldritch trait?”

“Yeah,” Cecil sighed again. “I didn’t really notice until this morning when I brushed my teeth and pulled out a bunch of bristles on accident.”

“Cecil, what part of ‘call me if anything happens,’ didn’t you get?”

“We knew my body would change, Carlos. Just… just stop scolding me!” Cecil put a hand over his face for a moment before resting his head against the toilet seat. He was exhausted.

“I’m sorry.” Carlos sighed. “You’re right. I don’t mean to be getting on your case. I’m just worried.”

“I _know_.” 

Cecil’s voice echoed into the toilet bowl, which would have been funny if it weren’t for the circumstances. For all intents and purposes, they were fighting and Carlos hated it. He sat down next to Carlos and embraced him gently, hoping to not jostle him to the point of vomiting even more. He kissed the tentacle that was wrapped around Cecil’s forearm and ran his fingers through his sweaty hair.

“I’m sorry, Cecil. Can you forgive me?”

Cecil looked up at him with all three eyes.

“Of course. You’re just worried. I understand that.” He cupped Carlos’s face and ran his thumb across his cheekbone. “I’d kiss you to prove it, but I’ve been puking all morning.”

Carlos let out a huff of air and smiled. “It’s okay.” He kissed Cecil on the cheek. “I can leave if you want me to.”

“Well, since you’re already here would you… would you stay?”

“Of course.” Carlos smiled again and ran his fingers through Cecil’s messy hair. “Whatever you need.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cecil and Carlos are woken by commotion across the street. They take advantage of their earlier than expected morning together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a couple of people were bothered by the sex a few chapters ago, but I write porn! It's a thing. And so here is so more porn.

The sunlight had barely begun to filter through the window when the sound of a truck backing up woke Carlos up from his peaceful slumber. That alone gave him the urge to get out of bed, but he was far too comfortable in Cecil’s warm embrace to move. Whatever the truck was doing couldn’t be _too_ terribly important. But when he heard shouting outside he immediately leapt out of bed, taking a brief moment to disentangle himself from Cecil’s tentacles, and ran to the window.

“What the hell?” Carlos muttered as he opened up the blinds.

Across the street they were unloading several huge premade walls onto the ground. He couldn’t tell exactly what the finished building would look like based on what was being unloaded off the truck, but they were yellow and red and complimented the surrounding desert beautifully. Whatever it was going to be, it was obviously important enough for them to spend some time considering the aesthetics of the area. At some point since he and Cecil had gone to bed last night a foundation had been laid on the vacant lot. It looks like it was cement, but that didn’t make much sense because cement took a long time to dry. But there it was, a huge concrete-looking slab in the middle of the lot.

Several dozen men in orange vests stood around while a couple of important looking dudes with walkie talkies gestured enthusiastically as the trucks backed in with their equipment. It was a grand affair and Carlos would have been impressed with the coordination if he wasn’t so terribly tired. It was almost like a barn raising, but it looked like it was actually a rather large two story building if the prefabricated walls were anything to go by. One of the walls had space enough for two windows on top of one another, so it had to be _at least_ two stories tall.

At some point Cecil had climbed out of bed and was now standing beside him at the window, but Carlos was too distracted to turn his attention from the activity across the street.

“Do you have any idea what they’re doing?” Carlos asked.

“Hmm, building something it looks like.”

“Well yeah, but any idea what?”

“No. I haven’t the fainted idea.”

Sometimes Carlos wondered just how much of Dr Saunders initial assessment that Cecil was somehow tuned into Night Vale was _actually_ true. He did seem to know what was going on around town during his broadcast in a way that nobody else could really manage, but he was left in the dark about whatever was happening across the street. He wanted to grill Cecil about his abilities, but it seemed like a sensitive topic and he was already feeling like an experiment so much already. He’d have to find a tactful way of getting that information without making him uncomfortable. Or maybe he’d just confront Dr Saunders and skip the whole awkward confrontation. There was something _off_ about Dr Saunders and she seemed to know things.

When he turned to look at Cecil his thoughts vanished. Cecil had gotten into the habit of sleeping without a shirt on as his growing bump and unruly tentacles were just too much to keep under fabric at night. During the day he’d grown accustomed to wearing his tunics instead of his neat button up shirts. They hid his bump and allowed his tentacles to flow out the bottom without having to cut holes in them. He’d wear his tentacles wrapped around his waist and arms to keep them out of the way during the day, but now he standing there bare chested with his tentacles stretching out to get the blood flowing after a long night of sleep and his baby bump very much exposed.

Carlos reached out and placed his hand on the bump and smiled. Cecil placed his hand over Carlos’s and looked at him, all three eyes blinking blearily from being woken before he was ready, but he still managed to return the smile. Carlos leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips. In response Cecil wrapped his arms around Carlos’s neck and pulled him closer, deepening their kiss into more than just the soft peck Carlos had intended. 

All of Cecil’s teeth had grown sharper due to the increased eldritch hormones in his body, but they didn’t let that stop them from being passionate with each other. After the first first scrapes on Carlos’s tongue and lips (and excessive apologizing from Cecil), they found a rhythm that worked for them. Kissing wasn’t something either of them was willing to give up so they found a way to proceed without getting Carlos hurt.

When they parted they just looked at each other for a moment and smiled. Carlos let his hands wander to the base of Cecil’s tentacles on his back. He rubbed them gently causing Cecil to shudder. Carlos loved knowing just what buttons to press to make Cecil come apart.

“So…” Carlos began saying as he changed his grip on Cecil to a calm stroking up and down his spine.. “Since we’re up early, do you want to take a look at her before we head out to see Dr Saunders?”

“Yes,” Cecil said with a grin.

They walked over to the examination chair hand in hand and Cecil got into position on the exam chair to take a sonogram. They tried their best to not do it every day as it’d be harder to notice the changes in the fetus with constant scrutiny, but they loved looking at their daughter. Carlos turned on the equipment and placed the transducer over Cecil’s bump.

The fetus was incredibly small and its gender was difficult to distinguish on the ultrasound, but they’d grown so accustomed to calling it their daughter that they didn’t have any doubts. Though Carlos couldn’t feel the gender like Cecil could in their dreams, he trusted Cecil’s feelings on the matter. What they could see, however, were tiny arms, legs, and four little nubs on her back that were the beginnings of tentacles.

“She’s so beautiful,” Cecil crooned as he stared wide eyed at the sonogram. “What about Carlotta?”

“I’m going to veto that for the same reason you vetoed Cecilia. It’s too close to my name. It’d get confusing.”

“Hmm. I suppose. She doesn’t look like a Carlotta anyway.”

“She doesn’t look like much of anything yet,” he said as he adjusted the position of the transducer for a better angle. “She’s like a tiny peanut with appendages. Unless we’re in your dreams, of course. Then she’s like a big ball of light.”

“What about Clara?”

“Clara is… not bad actually. We can put that on the list.” Carlos took his eyes off the screen and smiled at Cecil. So far their list was about a dozen names long, all beginning with the letter C. Some names had L’s in them, others didn’t. They couldn’t quite decide just _how_ matchy matchy they wanted to be.

Carlos set the transducer aside and reached out to help Cecil stand, but before he could pull him to his feet he was pulled awkwardly on top of him on the examination chair. Carlos had to straddle his hips to keep from crushing him, but the tentacles that wrapped around his torso helped keep him in place.

“Cecil!”

“What?” Cecil responded coyly.

“What are you doing?”

In response, the tentacles brought him down for a kiss. Cecil’s tongue plunged into his mouth and Carlos momentarily forgot how to think. It just felt _too good_. All four of Cecil’s tentacles were running over his body, massaging away the last bits of grogginess from their unexpectedly early morning. Then one ventured down and wrapped around Carlos’s upper thigh. It was then that Carlos realized he was growing hard already, but this _really wasn’t appropriate_.

“Cecil,” Carlos said, forcing them apart long enough for him to speak. “On the chair? It isn’t even ours. It’s on loan from the hospital.”

“And what difference does that make?”

“It’s medical equipment, Cecil. Other people have to use this when we’re done with it.” 

“So? We’ll wipe it down _obviously_.”

“You’ve gotten kinkier since I knocked you up,” Carlos said with a smile.

“I think it’s the eldritch hormones. They make me not really care much about human norms.”

“Well you didn’t care much about them before, so…”

“So now I care about them even less.”

One of Cecil’s tentacles made quick work of pulling down Carlos’s sleep shorts while Cecil used his hands pulled his own sweat pants down around his hips. Cecil stroked his already hard cock once, whimpering into their kiss at the sensation just as his tentacle took hold of Carlos’s erection. Cecil stroked them both in time with one another a few time and revealed in the soft little gasps coming from Carlos. Morning sex was one of Cecil’s favorite things. Carlos was always so bleary and pliant and, well, _easy_.Carlos’s own hands were on either side of Cecil’s head to prop himself up, though the two tentacles around his waist were probably enough to keep him from toppling over. He was flushed already, but they’d barely just begun. 

The fourth tentacle slid down Carlos’s crack and slipped inside his opening suddenly without much preparation causing him to gasp and duck his head down.

“Oh _God_ Cecil,” he gasped, breaking their kiss and burying his face in the crook of Cecil’s neck. 

Carlos was grateful that the tentacles created their own lube, or it could have been horrifically painful. He’d grown accustomed to the size of Cecil’s tentacles, however, and the lubrication they excreted made it easier to take. He enjoyed the uniqueness of their experiences. He’d never had a partner with _tentacles_ before and had never really considered that it could be a kink, but, well, here he was enjoying the hell out of them. It was definitely an ‘only in Night Vale’ situation. Even more than that it was an ‘only Cecil Baldwin’ situation and Carlos was incredibly grateful. 

Cecil then wrapped both Carlos’s and his own cock in his tentacle and began to stroke them together. At that point Carlos lost it and couldn’t keep himself upright. He buried his hands in Cecil’s hair instead of holding himself up and began to moan. Ever so slowly he began to thrust into the tentacle, plunging the one behind him even deeper each time he pulled back. Cecil’s hands roamed under Carlos’s shirt, grasping at whatever skin he could reach. It spread across the smooth plains of his back and his hips and his firm ass, loving every inch of skin available to him.

“My perfect _beautiful_ Carlos. I love you. _I love you._ ”

“ _Cecil._ ” 

The tentacle inside of him changed angles slightly and tapped against his prostate. It was enough to send him over the edge and he came over Cecil’s belly and the tentacle wrapped jointly around their cocks. Cecil continued stroke them with his tentacle and a few short moment he also came with a cry. Carlos would have collapsed had Cecil’s tentacles not been holding him upright. He’d gone completely limp in his embrace as he came down from his orgasm. One of Cecil’s tentacles reached up and brushed some hair of Carlos’s sweaty forehead and Carlos smiled sleepily in response.

“I love you Cecil,” he said as he cupped Cecil’s cheek. 

“ _Carlos,” Cecil crooned as he pulled him down into a tight embrace. “I love you, too. I’ve always loved you and I always will.”_


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carlos seeks answers from Dr Saunders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the MASSIVE EXPOSITION. I tried to show not tell, but I needed to tell a little bit this chapter.

Dr Saunders and Bob were both on hand for Cecil’s appointment that morning. This was a major check up for the future delivery of their daughter and it warranted an all-hands-on-deck response. Three months was a vital stage in development for both human and eldritch alike and they hoped to be able to estimate a delivery date during this appointment.

“The tentacle development is late in the fetal development for full blooded eldritch,” Bob’s iPad said after he’d finished typing.

“Hmm, yes I agree,” Dr Saunders replied as she moved the transducer over Cecil’s belly. “Perhaps this means the gestation will be closer in length to a human gestation period. It’ll take some more monitoring to determine for certain, but probably closer to 8 months?”

“That hypothesis sounds accurate,” Bob’s computer replied. “The human fetal development appears to be on schedule. It may even take up to 38 weeks as a normal human pregnancy would. Difficult to say with certainty at this juncture.”

“Possibly. Now look here,” she said as she repositioned the transducer. “It looks like one of the tubes has attached itself to Cecil’s belly button. It we were going to allow it to be a natural birth that could be the route the baby would take.”

Carlos’s phone began to ring in his pocket and he quickly silenced it and sent the call straight to voicemail. Only after he’d sent it did he look at the screen. It was from a college friend who was assigned to the grant board. Under any other circumstances he’d have picked it up immediately, but his priorities were different now. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and continued listening to Dr Saunders who was now examining Cecil’s belly button.

“It doesn’t appear that there are any changes externally to the belly button. We are definitely going to do a c-section, but unless there are more changes in the next few weeks I’d say a natural birth through this orifice would be impossible.”

“I don’t even want to think about it,” Cecil groaned and he protectively clutched his belly.

“Well don’t then. Because it’s not going to happen. When the time comes we’ll extract her with surgery.”

“How will we know when the time comes?” Carlos asked.

“Well, with human pregnancies the mother’s amniotic sac breaks and a bunch of fluid comes rushing out. Eldritch birthing sacs are similar. Since you don’t have a single birthing canal, though, it’ll be hard to determine where the liquid will come from. Could come from your navel or your rectum or a combination of both or something else entirely.”

“Oh God this sounds _awful._ So _gross_ ,” Cecil said hiding his face in his hands. “Please pray to the Elder God’s that it’s not the rectum. _Please_.”

“Oh Cecil,” Carlos said as he put an arm around his shoulders. “I’m sorry. We’ll get through it. Might be kinda gross, but...”

“That’s just pregnancy for you,” Dr Saunders said with a shrug. “It could be worse. Could be _a lot_ worse.”

“Please don’t tell me how much worse it could get,” Cecil said as he took his hands from his face. “I’m sort of enjoying the mystery.”

“I won’t,” Dr Saunders said with a laugh.

-

After their appoint,ent, Carlos dropped Cecil off at the radio station and pulled his car around the corner. He pulled out his phone and stared at the message icon for a moment. Something deep down inside of him already knew what the message was going to be. He hadn’t spoken to this friend in years, but he was on the grant board and if he was making an unorthodox personal call, things much be serious. He brought up the inbox on his phone and pressed play.

“Hey, Carlos, this is Jerry. Look, you’re going to get a formal letter in the mail about this and an email as well, but we go way back and… I don’t know, I felt like you deserved a personal phone call. The grant board has decided… I’m sorry man, they aren’t renewing your grant for this year. I know how much you love Night Vale and all, but there just wasn’t enough justification in the grant proposal for continued funding. I’m sorry dude. Anyway… when you get back to Tucson we should go out for drinks and catch up. Text me sometime.”

He’d been expecting it, really. He’d even thought up contingency plans. He could apply for other grants from different institutions and while he waited for them to go through he could get part time work in Night Vale to make ends meet. He certainly wasn’t going back to Tucson. This was Cecil’s home and, well, it felt like home to Carlos now too. They could survive on Cecil’s salary and a minimum wage job for a short amount of time. At least until Carlos found a grant willing to give him a chance. Night Vale was filled with possibilities and if he’d had more time to make a proper grant proposal he’d have been renewed.

He opened up his contact list and scrolled down past Jerry until he was hovering over Dr Saunders. He had to focus on other things at the moment. He had enough money to last several months, so they’d be ok for a while. He pressed Dr Saunders’ name and put the phone to his ear.

“Carlos, is everything alright? Is Cecil okay? You just left...”

“What? Oh, yeah, Cecil is fine, but, well, I have some more questions and I didn’t want to ask in front of Cecil because I didn’t want to worry him.”

“Questions like… what?”

“I’d rather ask in person if you don’t mind. If you have any time available this afternoon, that is.”

“My next appointment should be over by 2:00pm. You can swing by then if you’d like.”

“Thanks for fitting me in. I’ll be there.”

“No problem. See you then.”

-

Carlos entered Dr Saunders’ office and she gestured towards the seat on the other side of her desk.

“Please have a seat, I just need to file these,” she said as she gestured towards the papers in her hand. “It’ll only take a few minutes.”

Carlos sat in the chair as Dr Saunders opened up her filing cabinet and started placing the files where they belonged. Carlos rubbed the back of his neck nervously, unsure of how to begin.

“What can I help you with Carlos?” She said with her back turned.

“What are you?”

Doctor Saunder froze, taken aback by the question. She laughed nervously and set the files on top of the cabinet before turning around and looking Carlos squarely in the eyes. “I’m sorry, but I thought you were here to talk about Cecil?”

“I said I had questions. Some of them have to do with Cecil. But I need to know more about the person we are putting so much faith in here. So what are you, exactly?”

“A Doctor,” she said sternly.

“That’s not what I mean. Look, I like you, okay? And I’m sorry to press you on this, but you look my age and there’s no way you could be around for Cecil’s birth and still look like you do. I just need to know what you are.”

She leaned against the filing cabinet and looked to the floor, considering his question carefully.

“I’m not sure what words to use, exactly,” she said as the fidgeted with her hands distractedly. “People have interpreted me differently over time. I guess the Greeks have the most famous version of me. My face looks good on vases I suppose. How well do you know your Greek mythology, Carlos?”

“Um, not very well. Took a lower division class in college. What are you telling me exactly?”

“What do you recall of Artemis?”

“Um,” he paused for a moment and tried to recall what he’d learned over a decade ago. “Goddess of the hunt. Twin sister of Apollo. Something about animal pelts. I don’t know. That wasn’t my area of study.”

“I was also known as the Goddess of childbirth. People tend to overlook that part. Don’t know why. It’s kind of my favorite gig.”

“You’re trying to tell me you’re a Greek Goddess?”

“"Um, no. I’m telling you I’m a Goddess and the Greeks just happened paint a lot of pictures of me. Quite a few sculptures too. They did love their marble..”

“A _Goddess_?”

“A few weeks ago you accepted eldritch as deity like creatures. A few months ago you accepted the Glow Cloud as a God like entity. Why are you getting hung up on me?”

“I’m a _scientist_.”

“Yes, a scientist who has already accepted a whole slew of other deities. Ya know I’m kind of offended.” He looked up at her at that, worried that he’d made a grievous error, but when he saw her playful smile he relaxed. “Cecil’s birth drew me here. I loved it so much I decided to stick around for a while. That’s kind of how this town works, I guess. Look at _you_. You lost your grant and you aren’t going anywhere.”

“So what, you’re psychic.”

“Um, I’m a Goddess sweetie. I have the Fate’s on speed dial. And that’s not a joke. Hold on.” 

She pulled out her phone and turned it around to show ‘Future’ listed between ‘Fire Department’ and ‘Gino’s’

“Now this is all well and good,” she said slipping her phone back into her pocket. “But I know you came here to talk about Cecil, so let’s get to it. What do you need to know?”

“Everything,” he said with a sigh. When she looked at him with with a raised eyebrow he felt the need to hone in his questioning. “How does he know what he knows when he’s broadcast? He doesn’t know things like what the hell they’re building across the street from my apartment. It’s not a constant thing, so how does it work?”

“You haven’t actually seen him broadcasting, have you?”

“No. I mean I pick him up from the studio, but I’m never inside when he’s broadcasting.”

“Not exactly what I meant by ‘broadcasting,’ but he does in in the studio too. I won’t spoil the visual surprise on the visuals. It’s way cooler to see it in person. His broadcasting has to do with, well,” she trailed off and pointed vaguely at her forehead. “That third eye’s not just for looks. It’s an eldritch trait so it tunes Cecil into a frequency only accessible by God’s and those lucky enough to be touched by them. A _psychic_ wavelength, I suppose you’d call it.”

“Okay…” Carlos said, a little unsure of the information provided to him, but willing to accept it and move on. “But why does he only pick up certain things? Why not all the time?”

“When he tunes in he sort of becomes like an antenna. Other deities or supernatural creatures can feed him information. He can turn it on and off on his own, but he’s basically receiving information that others are giving him. Again, don’t tell the Glow Cloud this, but there _are_ other deities in Night Vale. A lot of us are very protective of this town. It’s our home. And I’ve only been here for 35 years, but I’m protective of this place. Others have been here for hundreds, so just imagine…”

“What other deities?”

“That’s not my place to say. I hope you understand. I didn’t even want to tell you about _me_ , but I sorta had to. I like you guys. Cecil is was brought me here. And you brought Cecil back to me with his pregnancy. I guess I have a soft spot for you…” She trailed off again and smiled. “I’m getting a little emotional. I’m sorry. What else do you need to know?” 

“Nothing I guess. I should… go… I need to get dinner ready for Cecil. His appetite has been insatiable,” he said lightly, trying to end their conversation on a positive note.

“You do that,” she said with a smile. “Just no wheat or wheat by-products no matter how strong his cravings are.”

“Right,” he said with a smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mystery of the house across the street is finally solved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is SUPER SHORT and I am SO SORRY. But I have a lot of work IRL right now and I didn't want to leave you hanging.

It was a typical weekend afternoon in Carlos’s apartment. Cecil didn’t have work that day, so he spent most of the morning and afternoon spending time lounging about Carlos’s apartment. It was his third consecutive day there without returning to his own home. It was practically _his_ home now, too, but it was a one room loft apartment with very little space so they both knew it wasn’t going to work long term. But for now it worked fine. Cecil would lounge on the couch, twirl in one of the lab stools, or lay in the loft on Carlos’s bed while Carlos either worked or joined him in the leisurely weekend activities. They’d cuddle and talk about the baby and each other and the latest strange happenings around town. They’d pretty much settled on Clara as a name, but they didn’t want to tie themselves down when there were so many more months to go. Their name list was still two dozen names long, but that just happened to be the top one.

At this particular moment Carlos was cleaning the bathroom while Cecil flipping through one of Carlos’s _”extremely interesting”_ scientific journals. Carlos was pretty sure that Cecil didn’t understand most what the articles were discussing, but he was entertained so Carlos let him enjoy it. It was a strange little state of domesticity that they’d settled into that worked for them even though they weren’t officially living together yet. For all intents and purposes, Carlos’s apartment was _their_ apartment.

“We need to go to the house across the street, Carlos,” Cecil said suddenly in his smooth and deep radio voice.

“What?” Carlos asked as he peered around the corner.

Cecil was sitting at the counter looking straight ahead, his two traditional eyes completely white and the third on on his forehead glowing purple. Carlos had never seen this happen to him before.

“We should arrive around 3:00pm. Wear your nice _semi-formal_ labcoat.”

“Cecil?”

When Cecil blinked his eyes returned to normal. Well, as ‘normal’ as they had been since his body began to flood with eldritch hormones. They were all a light lilac color now, and three exactly the same.

“Oh dear. What am _I_ going to wear?” He looked at his semi-functional watch and started to panic. “That’s only in forty minutes, Carlos. Think I should run back by my house and pick something up? Maybe some sequin pants or, I don’t know those sheepskin overalls my aunt got me last Christmas.” Cecil stood up and paced in the kitchen. “What am I going to wear?”

“What’s going on exactly?”

“I don’t know. Why would they tell me what _you_ should wear, but not what _I_ should wear.”

“Cecil. _Cecil_ calm down,” Carlos said as he stepped in front of his pacing and held him by the shoulders. “What am I missing here? What’s happening at the house across the street?”

“I told you everything I know. Oh, Carlos, I’m at a loss too.”

Carlos took a slow calming breath and ran through the possibilities. This must have been Cecil’s ‘broadcasting’ that Dr Saunders- er, uh, _Artemis_ or whatever- had told him about. He skipped over his initial shock from seeing it in person and skipped right to the questioning. Why the secrecy? What weren’t they telling Cecil? And why was it so last minute? Couldn’t they have given them some warning?

“Okay, go home and get a fresh tunic and, um, some sequin pants. Then come back here and we’ll head over together, okay?”

“Okay,” Cecil said, followed by a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll be quick.”

Cecil raced out the door and Carlos was left standing in the middle of the room confused and alone. He had no idea what was going on, but whatever it was, they were going into it together. He was asked to dress nicely, so it couldn’t be all bad, could it? Unless he was walking in on his own funeral. But the way Dr Saunders talked about the town, they were essentially town royalty. It had to be a good thing… right?

Carlos changed coats and patiently waited for Cecil to return. He arrived about three minutes before they were due. He was wearing his turquoise sequined bell bottoms and a grey tunic with blue trim on the sleeves and color. His four month baby bump was obvious under the tunic, but he’d been slowly getting over being self conscious about it. In fact, he was rather proud and would often walk around with his hand or a tentacle curled around his belly to bring attention to it. Right now his tentacles were wrapped around his arms and shoulders like a shawl giving him a slightly dressier look. They were acting as accessories, essentially.

“You look wonderful,” Carlos said as he stepped out of the apartment and shut the door behind him.

“Oh _Carlos_ ,” Cecil crooned.

He was cut short when Carlos leaned in and kissed him deeply. Cecil’s tentacles stretched out and embraced him lovingly, pulling him into an embrace. They could have stayed there on the porch making out forever, but they had an appointment. Though they had no idea what they were walking into, they didn’t want to be late and make matters worse. They reluctantly parted lips and left the porch to head to the strange prefabricated house across the street.

As they walked hand in hand towards the house they noticed several dozen cars parked on their street that usually weren’t there. Carlos wished he’d paid attention to the type of cars people drove so he at least knew who was waiting for them inside, but all he could do was guess. It probably wasn’t station management. From the sound of it they weren’t really people and they never left the building anyway. They’d have been called to the station if station management wanted to speak with them. It was also unlikely that it was the hooded figures from the dog park. They never really left the dog park, either. In fact, most of the super scary and intimidated entities in Night Vale were pretty damn stationary.

They approached the door and Carlos reached out to ring the bell, but before they could do that the door opened. He gripped Cecil’s hand a little tighter, but when he saw that it was Old Lady Josie at the door, he relaxed slightly. She was one of his favorite people in town and he never really viewed her as a thread.

“You boys are almost late,” she said.

Carlos reflexively looked at his watch, but looking at time pieces was pretty useless. It read 3:00 on the dot and he was sure they’d arrived exactly on time unless they passed through some sort of time loop in the middle of the street. But who knows, maybe they had. This _was_ Night Vale.

“Sorry,” Carlos sputtered.

“Follow me,” she said as she hobbled away through the house.

Carlos and Cecil glanced at each other briefly before following her into the house. They walked down a small hallway with an arched opening into a beautifully modern furnished living room. It was complete with a couch, two lounge chairs, a coffee table, end tables, and a big screen TV. Carlos was envious that a single room of this house was better furnished than his entire apartment, but he didn’t let that feeling linger too long. Josie led them deeper into the house until they rounded a corner and were greeted by about thirty Night Vale citizens crowded into the kitchen practically shoulder to shoulder.

“Surprise!” they shouted as the couple entered the room. There were purple streamers and party hats and banners that proudly exclaimed “It’s Probably a Baby!”

“Oh my God,” Carlos said as he took a step back, overwhelmed by the amount of people in the tiny room. “What is this?”

“Your baby shower, of course,” Dr Saunders said as she stepped forward from the back of the crowd. She was no longer in her Doctor coat, but a nice lavender sundress with matching high heels. “And housewarming.”

“Housewarming?”

“Mhmm,” she said with a smile as she held out two sets of keys. Carlos and Cecil each took a set, but were too frozen with surprise to say anything in response. “It’s got a master bathroom upstairs with an ensuite bathroom. Two additional bedrooms and a shared bathroom, also upstairs. One is currently set up to be a nursery. Downstairs you have the living room, which you saw, the kitchen,” she said as she gestured to the room around them,” and a dining room.” She gestured to a room adjacent to the kitchen that neither of them had noticed yet. “There’s also a full bathroom and a den. There’s space for a science lab in an adjacent room to the two car garage, but it’s not quite furnished yet. We figured you might have an attachment to your own lab equipment.”

“Wha…” Carlos couldn’t even finish the word. He tried again. “What…. are you saying? All of this is ours? This is… _our_ house?”

“Mmhmm.” She beamed at them again. “But more importantly, this is your party. So let’s get this party started!”

There was a popping sound and a confetti was thrown and somewhere music began to play. The party erupted around them, but Carlos and Cecil were still too awestruck to move.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The continuation of the baby shower/house warming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got a comment that this is a "trite" story. But this is mpreg tentacle fic. What do you expect? I'm writing this for fun for cute fluffy moments so if you are expecting hardcore and deep meaningful plot, this is not that fic.
> 
> As a side note, the next chapter I have planned is the birth, but there are several more months until that is supposed to happen in the story, so if you happen to have suggestions for things you'd like to see before Clara pops out into the world, let me know in the comments and I will for sure consider them. :)

As the afternoon wore on, more and more Night Vale citizens crowded into their home and Cecil and Carlos began to withdraw from the ever growing crowd. Each person wanted to have their moment with them to congratulate them and give them a gift. Old lady Josie had knitted a dozen tentacle booties, unsure of exactly how many tentacles the little bundle of joy was going to have, but certain that she’d have at least a few. Leann Hart had given them baby clothes of various shapes and sizes, preparing for all non-human attributes that the baby might have. Though Cecil had mentioned the sonograms on his show, nobody was quite certain what attributes she might grow between now and her birth just a few months away. Between the two of them, little Clara (yes, that was the name that was going to stick) was going to be a well dressed baby.

Other guests pointed out things in the home they’d bought for the couple. In a fit of guilt over the whole bowling alley incident, Teddy Williams set up an extensive shoe shelving system in the master bedroom closet as a sort of repentance for yelling at Carlos on the day that he almost died. Marcus Vansten wasn’t in attendance, but many residents were quick to explain that he paid for the entire structure of the building itself. Apparently causing a sinkhole and restructuring it for a residential unit was a task only Night Vale’s wealthiest resident could afford. Even Pamela Winchell was getting into the gift giving spirit, proudly pointing out the fine dining table that she outfitted their dining room with. Though she was still consistently frustrated with Cecil and the rest of the towns media outlets, even she wanted to contribute to their house warming in some way.

Each person also had a strange habit of wanting to touch Cecil’s belly. It was supposed to be sweet, but after a couple dozen hands pressed right up against his bump, Cecil was beginning to feel a bit weary and a little bit violated. He was slightly self conscious about the bump as it was, but having it poked and prodded all day was far too much.

After a few hours Cecil and Carlos found themselves holed up in the master bedroom with their backs against the door. Someone had brought alcohol and, if the residents of Night Vale weren’t bizarre and difficult to interact with already, the steady flow of liquor made being around them almost impossible. The music (if you could call the strange electronic hums that were playing on the radio that, at least) had reached an unbearable level and people were dancing on tables and couches and just generally partying it up in their new home. At one point Carlos was tempted to get drunk and join them. ‘When in Rome,’ he thought, but Cecil had to decline the drinks and Carlos didn’t want to leave him the only seemingly sober person at his own baby shower. They stayed sober together and snuck away at the first opportunity.

“This is all… a bit much,” Carlos said with a sigh.

“A bit, yes,” Cecil responded. Cecil usually dealt with the strangeness of the town quite well. Hell, he _was part of_ that strangeness, but even this was too much for him. “But we have a crib at least. So that’s something. We’ll have to thank Tele for that when he’s not dancing on the kitchen counter in his boxer shorts. ”

“And we have a room to put that crib in, too. A room to put _us_ in, too.”

“And a massive shoe rack.”

“Mhmm.”

They looked at each other for a moment, the sounds of the party downstairs beginning to fade as their attention was drawn so thoroughly to each other. Carlos leaned in and kissed Cecil gently on the lips. He tucked a strand of hair behind Cecil’s ear and cupped his cheek. For the first time in months Carlos felt like they might be okay. For whatever reason, the town really did care about them and want them to be healthy and happy. Things in Night Vale could be so incredibly dangerous every single day, but the townsfolk loved them. They were a part of Night Vale and everyone had gone out on a limb to be sure they could stay.

“I’m…. I”m feeling a bit ill,” Cecil said suddenly as his hand went to his stomach.

“Morning sickness again? You haven’t had that in over a week.”

“Too much excitement I suppose.” Cecil spotted a door on the opposite end of the room and began to walk towards it. “Time to break in the new bathroom. I’ll be just a minute. I’ve gotten rather talented at throwing up these past few months.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Vomiting is a one man job. If I need a hand, well, I’ve got these,” he said as his tentacles flared out around him.

Cecil shut the bathroom door behind him and Carlos stayed flat against the bedroom door for a moment. Curiosity got the better of him, though, and he pushed himself off the door to begin exploring their new bedroom in earnest. The clock the nightstand seemed functional, but when he popped the back off he could tell it was just as useless as all the others. The bedside lamps were simple with a purple glass base and a beige shade over the bulb. In fact, purple and beige seemed to be the common color scheme through most of the house. Not that that much mattered, though. He had a home. _They_ had a home. They could have decorated it in fuchsia and lime green and he would have still been thrilled.

He heard the door to the bedroom open and turned around to find Dr Saunders standing in the doorway.

“Carlos?” She asked sweetly as she glanced at the closed bathroom door. “Is Cecil okay?”

“Just some morning sickness. He’s okay.”

“Good,” she said as she crossed the room and stood in front of Carlos. She held out a large manilla envelope. “I never had a chance to give you my gift.”

‘Oh, right, thank you,” he said automatically. He’d been handed so many gifts the past couple of hours that he had a sort of Pavlovian response to it.

“Well, open it first before you thank me,” she said with a wink. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“Right.” 

He ripped the sealed top of the envelope and pulled out a stack of 8 ½ x 11 papers with the heading of the hospital across the top. Before reading further he looked up at the doctor confused.

“Keep reading, Carlos,” she urged.

He glanced back down.

 _Carlos the Scientist,_ the letter began, and he had to laugh at the fact that that was what the entire town seemed to know him as at this point.

_Night Vale General is pleased to offer you a full year long grant for continued research in the area of eldritch-human hybrid pregnancy, birthing, and upbringing._

“What?” He looked up at her. “How… what is this?”

“It’s exactly what it looks like.”

“But… but they aren’t an _experiment_ -”

“No no no, of course not,” she said with a pacifying hand on his forearm. “Any and all research you do will be used for internal use only. We’re the only place on earth that delivers hybrid births. Believe me. I _know_. One of my duties, remember? But this is real. And it’s safe. And it’s going to keep you in town and employed and with Cecil, so really, Carlos, relax and enjoy this.”

Carlos looked back down and the paper and read a few more lines just to be sure he actually understood what had been handed to him. It when on to state that excess funds could be used to study Night Vale as he saw fit. Whatever aspect of the town he wanted to study was his to explore. When he knew that Cecil and Clara were healthy enough to not be tended to around the clock he could turn his attention back to the geology that interested him so much. He could even dabble in other sciences. He could do _anything._ The possibilities were endless. He looked back up at her.

“Thank you,” he said, having a hard time hiding the utter joy in his voice.

She smiled. “ _Now_ you’re welcome.”

“Doctor,” Cecil said as he emerged from the bathroom, wiping sweat drenched locks of hair from his forehead in an attempt to look presentable.

“Cecil, darling, how are you feeling?”

“Besides this bout of morning sickness? Wonderful.”

“Good to hear,” she said as she rested a comforting hand on his arm. “Next appointment in two days. See you both then?”

“We’ll be there,” Cecil said with a smile.

“Yeah,” Carlos said as he pulled his eyes off the stack of papers and beamed at the doctor. “Yes, we’ll be there bright and early.”

“Good. Enjoy the rest of your party.”

She gave them both a hug and left the room.

“What’s that?” Cecil asked as he looked at the stack of papers in Carlos’s hand.

“I just got offered a grant from Night Vale General.” He looked up and met Cecil’s eyes. “So I’m employed for another year.”

“Oh _Carlos,_ ” Cecil said as he pulled the scientist into a tight embrace. “That’s _wonderful._ This is such _great news_.”

They stayed wrapped up in each others arms (and Cecil’s tentacles) for several long moments before Carlos kissed the shell of Cecil’s ear and whispered to him.

“What do you say to sneaking out the back and heading back to my apartment for some rest while the town drinks itself into the night.”

“That sounds lovely.” He pulled back a little and kissed Carlos very lightly on the lips, aware that he'd just thrown up and anything more might be a _bit_ much at that moment. "Perhaps we can repel out the window. I don't really want people touching my belly anymore."

"How strong are your tentacles?"

"Strong enough to get the job done."

"Then let's do it."


End file.
